


Home Isn't a Place, It's a Feeling

by Jackvbriefs



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series
Genre: Domestic, M/M, Puzzleshipping, Short Stories, Shorts, Slice of Life, exploration of relationship dynamics, glimpses into a happier post-series world
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-21
Updated: 2016-01-21
Packaged: 2018-05-15 09:46:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5781172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackvbriefs/pseuds/Jackvbriefs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of short-stories examining the home life and relationship of Yugi and Yami in a post-series world. Yugi is invited to present at a Midwestern gaming conference and experiences Chicago at its coldest. Yami finds a potential passion for himself, but struggles with the follow-through.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Windy City

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Puzzlenerds go to Chicago for a gaming convention. 
> 
> Inspired by the following from OTPPrompts: “Person A comes inside shivering because the temperature is below zero outside. Person B wraps them in a blanket and then holds them close to help them warm up.”

“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon…” Yugi clasped his gloved hands together and bounced on his feet at the curb, waiting for the light to change. He believed Chicago could be a nice city. The Midwestern gaming company that had convinced him to come out there for an exhibition in the first place had certainly painted a lovely picture. It just wasn’t now, in the middle of February, when the temperatures actually went below zero. He should have done more research, he thought, nearly sprinting across the street when the signage permitted him to do so. 

He also could have listened to Yami when the elder suggested they stay at the hotel convention center. If Yugi had listened, he wouldn’t need to go outside at all in this weather. But no, he “would be stuck inside all day,” and wanted “fresh air” and to “see the sights.” Yami’d been sure to throw in an “I told you so,” when they arrived in the Windy City and saw it covered in snow. 

Yugi hugged his jacket tighter to himself. It was worth it. Really, now he knew how many pairs of long underwear he could fit under his signature leather pants. Super helpful knowledge. Plus, Yugi was tired of hotels. He wanted a small BnB in a neighborhood where they’d have to drag themselves out to a diner if they wanted food at 2 a.m. Yami didn’t like it because they had to keep quiet when they fooled around. Yugi thought it sort of added something fun and forbidden to the mix.

A small bell jingled overhead when Yugi stepped into the brownstone house. It was one of his favorite features of the place. Ruggles, the resident cat and gatekeeper, instantly greeted him only to book it when his nose reached Yugi’s snow covered boot. “Sorry, RG,” he laughed, leaning back on the wall to pull of his boots. It was already after 10–the owners were definitely asleep by now. He grabbed a cookie from a tray near the door and took the steps two at a time to the third floor. The chill followed him, sticking in his toes and cheeks and earlobes. Entering his room, Yugi froze at the commanding and familiar voice that greeted him. 

“Don’t. You. Dare.” Yami stared and pointed at him very seriously from under his blanket hut on the bed. The former Pharaoh sat with an array of Duel Monsters cards in front of him and no less than three blankets around his shoulders. “Didn’t you shake off when you came inside? I could make a snowman with the snow on your hat alone.” 

“I was so excited to see you, I must have forgotten,” Yugi said, winking. The chattering of his teeth dampened the charm of his flirting. He focused instead on removing said hat, realizing that his failure to shake off the snow now meant his warm clothes were slowly getting soaked. 

Yami watched him strip, both amused and unsurprised. He’d learned over the years that Yugi forgot practical things when he was wrapped up in a tournament: to buckle his shoes, to close doors, to look both ways before crossing a street. Yami didn’t mind–it was one of the few ways his protective instincts could still be of use. He could bend in front of him and buckle said shoes as Yugi excitedly described the opponents he’d be facing. Could catch Yugi’s wrist and turn him around to lock the door. Wrap his arms around him to stop him walking into traffic. Of course, he could do much more than that because Yugi wanted him to, but it was nice to be needed as well. 

Left in his briefs, Yugi tiptoed around the wet piles of clothes and closer to the bed. He wasn’t used to the winter or the equally “homey” radiator system for heating the place and shivered. Yami opened his arms before Yugi had to ask. 

“C’mon partner. You’re no good to me as a popsicle.” Yugi needed no further encouragement and happily crawled into Yami’s lap to straddle him. Yami shivered at the rush of cold and pulled the edges of the blanket around them. “Oh my god, you were wearing eight layers, how are you so cold?” 

Yugi nuzzled into him, shrugging. “Maybe it’s a Midwest thing?” 

Yami ‘pfft’d’ and reached around Yugi’s back to collect up his cards. “From now on, we only visit warm places during the winter.” He tapped the cards to set them flush. 

“It’s kinda nice,” Yugi mumbled. “But agreed.” Yami leaned them over so he could safely place the deck aside. Yugi used the leverage to pull Yami–and thus the rest of the blankets–above him. He sighed, eyes closed. The blankets felt so nice, like laundry fresh from the dryer. 

Spotting some remaining snowflakes, Yami leaned in to kiss them from Yugi’s cheeks, his eyelashes, his nose. Yugi’s face crinkled. “That tickles.” 

Yami brushed his lips down along Yugi’s jaw line. “Don’t care.” Yugi used his arms around Yami’s shoulders to pull the older man against him. He took the offending lips in his teeth. “You will soon.” 

This time, they didn’t care about the noise. 

***

Fin!


	2. Doubt is a Question Mark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For the first time, Yami finds a cause that really means something to him. The hard part is making it happen.
> 
> This was created for the Yu-Gi-Oh! gift exchange on Tumblr.

Yugi set the tweezers down and sat back against the couch. His eyes closed at the relief tingling in the base of his spine. He’d sat on the living room floor for most of the evening, bent over the thousands of small wooden sticks and acetate paper spread over the low table usually reserved for TV remotes and game controllers. Rubbing the glue from his fingers, he tried to remember why he’d chosen that spot, of all the places in the apartment, to complete the massive Matchitecture Taj Mahal puzzle Yami had given him the day before. All the others he’d pieced together on a corner of their large kitchen island: the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame Cathedral last year, to remember their trip to Paris; the Tower Bridge the year before, for London. But today he’d been eager to start on it, to distract himself until Yami came home, and Yami had left the island covered in paperwork Yugi didn’t feel comfortable moving around. So living room table it was.

Uncrossing his legs was an ordeal. As the familiar static ran in his toes and the sleep wore off, he decided to start setting a timer before he worked on these things. At 25, his body already grew sore earlier than it had in high school. And having moved out of his childhood home more than four years ago, he could no longer count on his mother or grandfather to check in on him once in awhile. He needed to start walking more, to find something physical that could also pass the time. He’d forgone his favorite outlet--the contours of his boyfriend’s body--for the last few weeks in order to let Yami focus on that night’s presentation. He hoped for both their sanities that it had gone well. 

The light in the kitchen turned on behind him. Yugi tilted his head back in time to see Yami toss a folder on a side table, followed quickly by a set of keys. 

“Welcome home,” Yugi said, twisting around so that his arms could rest on the couch cushion. Yami dropped the motorcycle helmet in his hand, but caught it just as quickly.

“Yugi?” He shifted the helmet under his arm and started to remove his leather gloves. “I didn’t think you’d still be up.” 

Stifling a yawn, Yugi smiled around it. “Of course I’d stay up.” 

He tried to look past Yami’s shoulder to the kitchen clock. “What time is it, anyway?” 

Yami tossed the gloves down. His shoes soon followed. “It’s almost 1.” 

Yugi dragged his hands down his face. “I didn’t realize how late it was. This is the first break I’ve taken since you left.” 

“You’ve been working on that in the dark,” Yami asked. He took the few steps down to the living room and bent over the back of the couch to plant a firm, chaste kiss on Yugi’s forehead. He then glanced at the several walls and columns Yugi had assembled so far. “That’s terrible for your eyes.” 

Yugi caught Yami’s wrists to pull him back. 

“As long as I can see you and my cards, I’ll be fine,” Yugi said, pressing a few soft kisses on the other’s cheek. Yami danced out of the embrace a moment later, eyes still focused on the puzzle set. 

“Mm. I’m going to make some tea.” Yami stood back and unzipped his coat. “Do you want any?” 

Yugi had been watching Yami’s hands draw the dark leather jacket from his shoulders. He only looked back at the other’s face when Yami folded the fabric over his arms and crossed them. 

“Did you say something,” Yugi asked. Despite himself, Yami felt a smile pull at the corner of his lips. The sight of his sleepy, encouraging partner had already begun to unwind the tension in his shoulders. He took a step closer and ran his hand through Yugi’s hair. Yugi’d had it cut recently, a little shorter than Yami would like it, but it still warmed his chest to feel the strands between his fingers. Yugi closed his eyes and leaned into the other’s touch.

“Tea. We still have some of that Masala Chai left. Do you want any?” 

“Sure,” Yugi said. As he reached to grab Yami again he caught only Yami’s jacket as it was thrown his way. Yami stepped lightly back up the steps, rolling up his sleeves as he did so. Yugi ran his hand along the jacket’s collar. He could smell the blend of leather with Yami’s soap, cinnamon and oranges. He’d bought Yami the coat as a gift a few years ago but from its condition, you’d never know it. Yami had expressed an interest in learning to ride a motorcycle one day, and Honda agreed to teach him. Honda left it to Yugi to keep Yami even-tempered through the tedious process of getting a license, though. When Yami finally succeeded, Yugi greeted him wearing only the leather jacket: a gift to them both, in a way.

The tinkling of cups drew Yugi’s attention back to the kitchen. Yami’d set a pot on the stove already and had their mugs, milk, and sugar set up nearby. Since they’d come home four weeks ago from their trip to India, the apartment always smelled of warm milk and spices. Yami had taken a small class with Yugi’s mom on how to prepare Masala Chai, and both of them were hooked. Yugi enjoyed it, but his father didn’t share the same fondness for tea. Yugi made a note to call back at the game shop to see how his father and grandfather were doing. He was sure she made the tea even more often than Yami did.

Yami stretched, his arms reaching up and behind him, and Yugi’s eyes fell to the tanned strip of lower back the move revealed. Just that afternoon, Yami managed to sweetly set aside Yugi’s advances no matter how Yugi plied his mouth and neck with kisses, his hips with wandering hands. Which reminded Yugi of the whole reason he'd waited up--

“Yami, can you bring the blue box from the fridge out here, too, when you get the chance? I haven’t eaten anything.” The former Pharaoh looked at him over his shoulder, eyebrow raised. 

“Are those legs painted on? This tea won’t be ready for a few more minutes.” 

Yugi stood up a little taller on his knees and frowned. “I have to clear a spot for us down here.” 

They stared at one another. Yugi scanned Yami’s posture, wondering for the first time if things actually had not gone well. It was also Yami’s weekly game night with Kaiba, and it had run later than usual. Maybe the proposal went well, but Yami lost one of the games. Losses were rare, but they happened--so long as Kaiba picked a game that relied more on luck than strategy. But even then. 

“Something wrong,” Yugi asked, getting to his feet. With narrowed eyes, Yami took a slow and deliberate turn toward the refrigerator. 

“Something doesn’t have to be wrong for me to say your lazy butt can get its own food,” Yami said. Yugi watched him. True, he thought to himself, but you didn’t deny it.

When Yami opened the door and spotted the blue box with its golden Bisou label, his grip on the handle loosened. The bakery was one of their favorites, usually making its way into their home on birthdays or anniversaries. He pulled the box out with two hands and set it slowly on the counter. Yugi smiled at him from the other side of the island.

“We’re celebrating aren’t we? To the first investor in your training camp?” When Yami’s expression didn’t change, Yugi started to come around toward him. His enthusiasm wanted to wane, but he forced it to stay high. “You were bringing it up to Kaiba tonight, right?” 

Yami turned back toward the stove. The water, milk, and tea, mixed together in the pot, had begun to boil. He turned off the heat. Two hands made their way around his waist, followed by the weight of Yugi’s chin on his shoulder. Yami kept his hand on the oven knob and his eyes forward. Yugi waited.

“I…” He felt Yugi give him a gentle squeeze, the other’s nose nuzzling patiently against his jawline. Yami’s fingers tapped on the plastic, even as his shoulders relaxed back into the heat of Yugi’s body. 

“I didn’t bring it up.” Yugi didn’t say anything in response. Instead, after a moment, he pressed a kiss into Yami’s shoulders and pulled back to seat himself on the island’s countertop. He watched Yami go about the rest of the routine: straining the leaves, pouring the liquid into the cups, refreshing them with more leaves in a tea bomb. When Yami handed Yugi his mug, Yugi reached out with his feet to trap Yami’s waist before he could retreat. 

“Go on…” Yugi said, breathing in the warmth of the tea and staring at his boyfriend over the mug’s rim. Yami didn’t fight the legs on his waist. When they urged him closer, he filled the space between Yugi’s thighs. His eyes stayed on his mug.

“It just felt strange, I don’t know. I thought about it on my ride over there, and I came up with so many better ways to talk about it, so many other ways to bring it up and make it seem really easy to accomplish. And then I realized I should probably go through the charity arm of KaibaCorp anyway and that just because I know Kaiba doesn’t mean I should go to him with anything that had to do with his company.” Yami shook his head at himself, slowly swirling his spoon. Voicing the concerns out loud, he couldn’t deny how lame they sounded now.

“Uh huh,” Yugi said. He wanted to smile--the other’s uncertainty warmed him, that after all their battles, this man could doubt for a moment what he was capable of--but he instead buried the expression by taking another drink. “Because the minute your name appears anywhere in a KaibaCorp program, he wouldn’t find out about it and confront you.”

Yami shrugged. Yugi set his mug aside so he could frame Yami’s face between his hands. His thumbs traced over Yami’s cheekbones, more defined than his own, and waited until the dark red eyes met his. 

“I know you don’t doubt that he would say yes. Kaiba dedicates almost all of his philanthropy to children. And you’re a brilliant strategist. You already have an answer to any holes he’d think of in your plan.” Yugi brought their foreheads together. His fingers wrapped themselves in the small hairs at the base of Yami’s neck. “So where did this doubt come from?” 

Yami closed his eyes. He didn’t think of it as doubt so much as a lack of confidence. He knew games and people, how to play them both. All he knew about business was that he maybe wanted to start one. They’d met a number of people in India that worked with a charity there for children. Many had been freed from forced labor or worse. The charity provided those children with an education and hope. Hearing and seeing their efforts, Yami’d felt a spark, the same yearning to do justice that had sent so many hapless souls to the Shadow Realm when Yugi first completed the puzzle. There was a wrong Yami could see and could right, at least in some small way. Starting an international training program for Duel Monsters or any game, really, with small groups of children could bring levity to their lives. And perhaps it would bring some direction to his own. 

But he’d already spoken about all that to Yugi. In fact, most of those insights were his partner’s. Yugi’d grown the initial idea of fundraising for the charity into a full on project Yami could throw himself into. Dueling had fueled much of their lifestyle. Now it could help more than themselves. Or at least, it could if Yami had not flushed weeks of work by staying silent about it at Kaiba’s. He’d disappointed them both, he knew it. Yet it never felt like the right time to bring it up. Yami pulled back. One of his hands lifted to trace the light brown curls and lines that still appeared on Yugi’s upper arm. 

“This has lasted a lot longer on you,” Yami said. He and Yugi had both gotten a Mendhi band outside of Delhi during their trip, but Yami’s had faded more than a week ago. Yugi’s eyes didn’t stray from Yami’s face. 

Scrunching his mouth, Yugi gently put a hand on Yami’s chest to push him away. Then, Yugi left the counter and revisited his tea. It provided cover for the tactics running through his mind. At this point, he could poke at Yami’s ego to rile him up. He could question whether the idea had any validity or suggest the other just give up now. Either would pull Yami from his cloud, but neither option appealed to Yugi in the end. This project meant something to Yami, and Yugi would help him achieve it, however out of their depth it put them. And he was tired of going to bed first, alone, while the other worried about his potential success.

“Maybe the problem is going to Kaiba in the first place,” Yugi began, staring at the track lights above them. Yami and Kaiba drew one another’s heckles, and though Kaiba would certainly help them, he’d attach some ridiculous condition meant to show his own superiority in it all. That meant they either brought the proposal to him with some concession already in place, or--

“What if we asked Otogi instead? Or Pegasus? They’d agree to it just as easily, and when Kaiba finds out, he’ll probably want to double any contribution those two companies made just to prove he could.” 

Yami put a hand on Yugi’s shoulder and slowly pulled him around. 

“That,” Yami said, kissing Yugi’s nose. “Is a great idea. And you--” he interrupted himself again to move to Yugi’s mouth. 

“Are great.” 

Yugi hummed into the kiss, feeling lighter than he had in days. “Mm, I guess I can be alright sometimes. Anyway, thinking about it more, they’ll probably be a lot more kind in any advice they have as well. I’m surprised we didn’t think of this sooner.” 

When Yami went to kiss him again, Yugi walked around the island, the Bisou box in his hands. Yami started to step toward him, slowly, the smile on his face growing. Yugi glanced at him, then made a point of looking away and pulling both cupcakes from the box for inspection. 

“You’ve probably got a lot of work to do then,” Yugi said, wiping some of the cupcake frosting off with his fingers and tasting it. “I should really leave you to focus on you know, business, and what not.” 

Yami continued to follow him at the same pace.

“And what will you be doing in the meantime,” Yami asked, tapping his fingers on the countertop.

“I will be eating both of these cupcakes as an award to myself for saving your company before it even starts--” Yugi froze, catching only a flash of black jeans before Yami closed the distance between them and pressed him against the lower cabinets. Yugi looked at the carnage of the cupcakes, now smashed between their chests. 

“I hope you plan on cleaning that up,” Yugi said, pushing his annoyed mouth very close to Yami’s. The darker skinned man avoided that mouth. Instead, he pressed a firm hand to hold Yugi in place before licking a long line of frosting from Yugi’s navel to his neck. Yugi had been very patient with him for the last few weeks, and demanded little attention in return. Yami thought that deserved some kind of reward.

“Oh, I certainly intend to,” Yami said, sounding not at all chastised. “Every. Last. Bit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So far, it seems like I think these two resolve most things with sexy time shenanigans--but who wouldn't? Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
